Employee Experience Research

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Employee Experience
Research

Our involvement in providing a voice to employees through employee experience research is driven by the fact that workplace experiences have critical impacts upon an individual’s financial security, social mobility, physical health and mental wellbeing. These wide-ranging impacts mean that understanding and improving employee experiences are an important aspect of delivering societal improvement.

We have an extensive track record of designing and delivering bespoke employee research that:

Is inclusive and delivers high response rates
Explores levels of employee engagement and identifies what drives this
Identifies the key risks to employee wellbeing
Measures recognition of organisational objectives and levels of buy in to these
Quantifies the extent to which customer focus and continuous improvement are evident across an organisation
Collates employees own ideas for improvement.

We offer both annual and ongoing employee research solutions with a strong focus on providing insight at both strategic /organisation level and for individual teams. M·E·L Research uses a variety of innovative techniques to ensure that the key messages are presented clearly and effectively to decision makers. Our experience of employee engagement research means that we have multiple formats we can draw upon.

While a survey of employees captures views from a moment of time, we recommend that it forms part of an ongoing conversation. We use qualitative research to expand our understanding of staff experiences, illuminating challenges and patterns that may not have been expected from quantitative research.

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Join our Online Panel

The M·E·L Research Panel members take part in a variety of qualitative research, including one-to-one interviews, focus groups, and online workshops. Each project explores real-world social issues that matter, covering topics such as health, education, local government, and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), plus much more.

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We have over 35 years’ experience in running quantitative research studies for a range of public services clients; from residents consultations to health and well-being studies to Survey of Tenants And Residents (STAR) projects amongst others.

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Employee Experience Market Research Team

Research & Evaluation

Ayesha Lynn-Birkett, Senior Research Executive

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Senior Management

Steve Handley, Director – Insights Team

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Employee Experience Market Research Case Studies

Case Studies

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Stockport Council: Employee Survey

Stockport Council wanted to understand employees’ experiences of working within the organisation and to assess progress against key organisational priorities, including leadership, communication, wellbeing, organisational culture, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and employee engagement. The study sought to identify strengths and areas for improvement across different directorates and employee groups, while also tracking changes over time against previous staff surveys. Particular areas of interest included perceptions of senior leadership, workplace wellbeing, communication, learning and…

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Case Studies

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Vico Homes: Employee Survey

WHD (now Vico Homes) commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver a staff engagement survey following its organisational rebrand. The survey formed part of a wider programme to understand colleague perceptions during a period of change, including views on organisational identity, communication, leadership, and workplace experience. The key objective was to capture organisation-wide feedback to inform future internal strategy and support the transition to Vico Homes. A particular challenge was ensuring strong engagement across the workforce and capturing honest feedback during a period of change…

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Case Studies

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Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service: Employee Survey

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver an organisation-wide employee survey designed to capture robust, confidential insight into staff experiences of working within the Service. The client context was one of ongoing organisational focus on workplace culture, conduct, leadership, and inclusion, alongside a clear requirement to monitor progress against earlier engagement activity. SFRS wanted to better understand how employees experienced day-to-day working life, including perceptions of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour…

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Case Studies

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Liverpool City Council: Employee Survey

Liverpool City Council commissioned an organisation-wide employee survey in 2025 to measure staff engagement, workplace culture, leadership, wellbeing, equality and inclusion, and experiences of change. The survey formed part of the Council’s ongoing programme of staff listening and was used to assess progress against its Strategic Improvement Plan and organisational values. The survey results were intended to provide both a corporate overview of staff experience and detailed local insight to support improvement planning at Directorate and Service Area level.

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Case Studies

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Surrey County Council: Employee Survey

Surrey County Council commissioned an organisation-wide employee pulse survey as part of an established tracker survey programme that began in 2020. The programme was designed to provide regular, consistent insight into staff engagement, wellbeing, inclusion and organisational culture, and to enable the Council to monitor change over time. The March 2025 survey represented the first pulse wave of that year and was intended to provide senior leaders with current evidence on employee experience during a period of organisational change.

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Case Studies

London Borough of Sutton: Employee Pulse Survey

The London Borough of Sutton commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver its Employee Pulse Survey 2023, a follow-up to the 2022 survey designed to track how staff feel about working for the Council. The Council’s goals were to assess employee engagement and morale following a period of significant organisational change. Understand staff views on leadership, communication, inclusion, wellbeing, and hybrid working. Identify areas for improvement to inform the Council’s ongoing People Strategy and “Ambitious for Sutton” Corporate Plan.

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Case Studies

Office for Nuclear Regulation Employee Survey

M·E·L Research completed an employee satisfaction study for the Office for Nuclear Regulation to understand employee’s experiences of working at ONR, 3 years on from the last survey. ONR provided a contact list for all of their employees. An email with a unique survey link was sent to all employees to encourage them to complete the survey. Regular reminders were sent throughout fieldwork, to dovetail with internal communications and maximise completion rate. Employees on maternity leave or long-term sick leave were sent a letter by ONR with a QR code linking them to the survey.

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Case Studies

Hands in a circle Employee Experience Research Agency

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) Employee Experience

M·E·L Research were commissioned to deliver an organisation-wide staff survey using the same approach. The survey design and reporting metrics had close alignment to the Civil Service People Survey to allow for benchmarking of the results. Additional questions were also built into the survey to understand more around hybrid working and productivity, in the context of the post-pandemic workplace. The survey was conducted online across a mix of geographical locations and a set of FAQs were drafted to help inform staff of the purpose of the survey and to help alleviate any concerns on confidentiality and M·E·L Research’s role in undertaking the survey. A response rate of 81% was achieved.

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Case Studies

Surrey County Council Organisation Wide and Quarterly Pulse Surveys

Surrey County Council commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver two research programmes. The first was an organisation-wide Staff Survey, and the results from this survey were also used as a baseline for the quarterly pulse surveys which were introduced in January 2021 and which will continue until 2026.

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Case Studies

Flashing Light - Emergency Services Market Research Company

National Fire Chiefs Council Leadership Project Research

The National Fire Chiefs Council’s People Strategy has six key areas for improvements of which Leadership is key to all. A Leadership Project has been established by the NFCC to form a response to the challenges facing current and future leaders in the Fire Sector. M·E·L Research worked with the Leadership Project team to explore demand, buy in and perceived challenges in four key workstreams within the Leadership Programme (Coaching and Mentoring, Talent Management Direct Entry, and Supervisory Leadership).

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Case Studies

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council organisation wide ‘Your Voice’ employee survey

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver an organisation-wide employee survey during Autumn 2021. This research was designed to build upon the findings of the last ‘Your Voice’ survey that was run in 2019. The purpose of the 2021 survey was to help the Council understand how levels of engagement and wellbeing have been impacted by the challenges and revised working practices resulting from the pandemic. The survey also sought to provide updated measures of how well the Council’s strategic vison is understood by employees and the extent to which transformational activity in key areas of behaviour are being recognised.

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Case Studies

Liverpool City Council All staff survey

The Council has a Strategic Improvement Plan in place to guide the transformation of the councils’ culture and the delivery of its services to residents. In Spring 2022, M·E·L was commissioned to lead the design and deployment of the first full staff survey completed within the organisation for a decade. This activity was run simultaneously with a survey of Liverpool Councilors and a survey of residents. These three strands of research were required to provide a cohesive summary of where ongoing barriers to high performance remain and where improvement efforts need to be focused.

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Employee Experience Research